The Church of Saint Thomas Paine : A Religious History of American Secularism

**The forgotten story of the nineteenth-century freethinkers and twentieth-century humanists who tried to build their own secular religion** In __The Church of Saint Thomas Paine__, Leigh Eric Schmidt tells the surprising story of how freethinking liberals in nineteenth-century America promoted a secular religion of humanity centered on the deistic revolutionary Thomas Paine (1737–1809) and how their descendants eventually became embroiled in the culture wars of the late twentieth century. After Paine’s remains were stolen from his grave in New Rochelle, New York, and shipped to England in 1819, the reverence of his American disciples took a material turn in a long search for his relics. Paine’s birthday was always a red-letter day for these believers in democratic cosmopolitanism and philanthropic benevolence, but they expanded their program to include a broader array of rites and ceremonies, particularly funerals free of Christian supervision. They also worked to establish their own churches and congregations in which to practice their religion of secularism. All of these activities raised serious questions about the very definition of religion and whether it included nontheistic fellowships and humanistic associations—a dispute that erupted again in the second half of the twentieth century. As right-wing Christians came to see secular humanism as the most dangerous religion imaginable, small communities of religious humanists, the heirs of Paine’s followers, were swept up in new battles about religion’s public contours and secularism’s moral perils. An engrossing account of an important but little-known chapter in American history, __The Church of Saint Thomas Paine__ reveals why the lines between religion and secularism are often much blurrier than we imagine. "The forgotten story of the nineteenth-century freethinkers and twentieth-century humanists who tried to build their own secular religionIn The Church of Saint Thomas Paine, Leigh Eric Schmidt tells the surprising story of how freethinking liberals in nineteenth-century America promoted a secular religion of humanity centered on the deistic revolutionary Thomas Paine (1737-1809) and how their descendants eventually became embroiled in the culture wars of the late twentieth century. After Paine's remains were stolen from his grave in New Rochelle, New York, and shipped to England in 1819, the reverence of his American disciples took a material turn in a long search for his relics. Paine's birthday was always a red-letter day for these believers in democratic cosmopolitanism and philanthropic benevolence, but they expanded their program to include a broader array of rites and ceremonies, particularly funerals free of Christian supervision. They also worked to establish their own churches and congregations in which to practice their religion of secularism. All of these activities raised serious questions about the very definition of religion and whether it included nontheistic fellowships and humanistic associations-a dispute that erupted again in the second half of the twentieth century. As right-wing Christians came to see secular humanism as the most dangerous religion imaginable, small communities of religious humanists, the heirs of Paine's followers, were swept up in new battles about religion's public contours and secularism's moral perils.An engrossing account of an important but little-known chapter in American history, The Church of Saint Thomas Paine reveals why the lines between religion and secularism are often much blurrier than we imagine"-- Provided by publisher

The forgotten story of the nineteenth-centuryfreethinkers and twentieth-century humanists who tried to buildtheir own secular religion In The Church of SaintThomas Paine, Leigh Eric Schmidt tells the surprising story ofhow freethinking liberals in nineteenth-century America promoted asecular religion of humanity centered on the deistic revolutionaryThomas Paine (1737-1809) and how their descendants eventuallybecame embroiled in the culture wars of the late twentieth century.After Paine's remains were stolen from his grave in New Rochelle,New York, and shipped to England in 1819, the reverence of hisAmerican disciples took a material turn in a long search for hisrelics. Paine's birthday was always a red-letter day for thesebelievers in democratic cosmopolitanism and philanthropicbenevolence, but they expanded their program to include a broaderarray of rites and ceremonies, particularly funerals free ofChristian supervision. They also worked to establish their ownchurches and congregations in which to practice their religion ofsecularism. All of these activities raised serious questions aboutthe very definition of religion and whether it included nontheisticfellowships and humanistic associations-a dispute that eruptedagain in the second half of the twentieth century. As right-wingChristians came to see secular humanism as the most dangerousreligion imaginable, small communities of religious humanists, theheirs of Paine's followers, were swept up in new battles aboutreligion's public contours and secularism's moral perils. Anengrossing account of an important but little-known chapter inAmerican history, The Church of Saint Thomas Paine revealswhy the lines between religion and secularism are often muchblurrier than we imagine.